​It's the first week of April, and you know what that means: tax season.  Fortunately, I've already filed mine (with the help of my Dad), so no late, number-crunching nights are in my immediate future.

Oddly enough, tax season reminds me (as most things do) of some of the parallels to strength and conditioning - sometimes, what you want to do, is not always what you need to do.  Sure, I want to tell the IRS to keep their grubby hands off my money, but for a list of reasons, that's not a sustainable strategy.

Ok, so how does this apply to the gym?  Well, as some of you know, there are few things that I hold as close to my heart as the deadlift.  In fact, I believe the order goes: eating dead animal flesh, country music, deadlifting, and The Bachelor. All ensuing masculinity jokes aside, I recently had to put all my deadlifting on the shelf, as I realized that doing some form of hip-dominant movement every workout (like the deadlift) was what I wanted, but not necessarily what I needed.

Late last week, I had a client tell me the following: "My friend in Weight Watchers told me I'm not supposed to eat a banana and an apple on the same day." 

I laughed, and pressed the issue of why?  Why would a banana and an apple - yes, on the same day - be bad for you?  "Because it's too much sugar."

I mean, it's OK.  We all make mistakes.  For example, when I was younger, I thought the proper name for our glutes was "bootyus maximus." (LOL, I was adorable.) 

As you all know, I love lifting heavy things.  But beyond my tough exterior, I also like to think there's a softer, gentler side - I was a ball of tears when watching "The Fault in Our Stars;" I'm a sucker for Puggle and Shiba Inu puppies; I also love long walks on the beach.

Just kidding, I hate long walks.  And the beach.

Nonetheless, I wanted to share that there's more to me than JUST deadlifts (plus, being able to deadlift over 500 pounds creates a safety net for me to share my softer side.)  Why?  Because this week's post is about - you guessed it - deadlifts.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably noticed how torn ACLs have become much more prevalent these past few years.  In fact, this type of knee injury has become so common that nowadays it's almost synonymous with a broken leg or a bad case of the flu....that sidelines you for the rest of the year.  

Let's make no mistake, a torn ACL is a very serious injury to the knee joint.  In fact, the rise of ACL tears has been almost historic, particularly in the NFL this year, with 41 individuals already tearing their ACL compared with only 25 in 2011.

So, what gives?

Fact: the only thing that comes close to my insatiable appetite for heavy deadlifts, is my similar appetite for great 80's music.

And, my love for the 80's was on full display this past Saturday night as Lindsay and I were surrounded in an 80's cover band haze - Billy Joel, The Go Go's, The Bangles, and my personal favorite, Huey Lewis and the News.  I'd go so far to say that ol' Huey and I have an uncanny resemblance with our butt chins....the appeal of which cannot be denied.

Safe to say, I danced, wore my sunglasses at night, and quoted Back to the Future lines like they were the only English phrases I knew. (Roads?  Where we're going, we don't need.....roads.)